SA scientists and medicines regulatory experts have given the public assurance that vaccines are the only effective weapons to break the momentum that the Covid-19 pandemic has gained.
The chairperson of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) Prof Helen Rees yesterday told Sowetan that the country would not get rid of the second wave of Covid-19 unless “we urgently introduce vaccines”.
“We have to break the back of this with a vaccine… the regulatory body has very high standards which were set with the World Health Organisation and other authorities and if we thought there was anything that’s not of good quality or safety it will not be allowed to be rolled out,” Rees said.
She said Sahpra is set to receive documentation relating to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in the next few days to independently evaluate its efficacy before deciding on approving its mass rollout in SA.
It is one of about three vaccines which are expected to hit the SA market.
Last week health minister Zweli Mkhize told parliament that SA will receive its first million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine this month. He said his department had reached an agreement with the Serum Institute of India for the first batch of doses, for frontline workers.
Serum Institute of India and the AstraZeneca vaccine have been approved by various regulators and is being rolled out in other countries.
Rees said they would independently evaluate the Oxford/AstraZeneca's efficacy in the country before approving it.
“The standard that SA has for approving medicines and vaccines is a globally high standard, it’s not a compromise standard even in an emergency,” Rees said.
Rees said they were aware of many rumours and conspiracy theories about vaccines doing the rounds.
“If you’re a young adult South African, if your ask your parents they will tell you that they’ve vaccinated you as a child to protect you against deadly diseases such as measles and polio,” Rees said.
Dr Clare Cutland, a scientific coordinator at the Wits African Leadership in Vaccinology Expertise consortium, said the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has already undergone successful clinical trials in SA including at three sites in Soweto, which are Kliptown, Chris Hani Baragwanath and Dhlamini. Other trials were conducted in Soshanguve in Tshwane, Hillbrow, Johannesburg and Stellenbosch and Cape Town in the Western Cape.
Cutland said the vaccine is an effective two-dose jab which needs the second dosage to be taken a month later.
“The single dose does work but the second dose has a booster effect…and what works for SA with the Oxford/AstraZeneca is that it could be stored in a normal fridge temperature and all our healthcare clinics have a fridge,” Cutland said.
She said other vaccines which had clinical trials in SA include one by Pfizer and another by Johnson & Johnson.
“The benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risk of getting the disease and the vaccines have been extensively researched and are very safe,” Cutland said.
The People's Vaccine Campaign – a coalition of non-governmental organisations and trade unions which advocates for a transparent and equitable rollout of the vaccine – called for more information on the mass rollout to the population.
Rehad Desai, the organisation’s interim committee member, said they were in support of phase one of the rollout of the vaccine, which will see healthcare workers and those in prisons getting priority. But Desai said they were concerned that the private sector may drive the rollout which will see those with medical aids get preference.
“We are calling for what we call ‘One country, one plan’, which will be transparent and inclusive to involve all of civil society, including community-based organisations, trade unions, traditional leaders and traditional healers because 50% of the population is in rural areas,” Desai said.
He said the involvement of the private sector in the rollout should be welcome only if it’s “designed to boost and strengthen the public sector”.
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